November 6, 2006, Herald Journal

Who stands for what?

By KRISTEN MILLER

It will be so nice when elections are finally over. The advertisements on TV are ridiculous, not to mention scandalous. With the way each candidate talks about one another, it’s hard to know what anyone stands for.

With all the bashing going on and childish behaviors and remarks, I don’t want to vote for any of them. They think it’s helping their cause by making the other person look bad.

They talk about what they are going to do when they are in office, but in actuality they only have a little voice in the process. They may say they will represent a certain issue, but that doesn’t make a guarantee it will be a success.

As a young voter, I’m trying to understand these politicians and their policies. Talks about lowering taxes, but improving transportation. Hmm. Not sure how that’s possible, but they make it sound like it is. Sounds quite impossible to me.

Every politician talks about lowering taxes, but then they have a long list of wants. Everything has a price tag, and somebody has to pay for it.

Hot-button issues I am noticing in my political self-education are embryonic stem cell research, abortion, gay marriages, and transportation. They are either for it or against it. Why is there no “middle of the road?” Why does it have to be right or left? Wrong or right? I think some issues are circumstantial. Not every one is right for everyone, but some are right for some. Just because it’s fair for one doesn’t mean it’s fair for all.

I agree with some of the views by politicians, but I don’t necessarily agree with all of them. I’m somewhere in the middle I guess. It’s definitely not going to be easy for me on election day.

Now I know why young people don’t vote. They just don’t understand politics. Politicians need to target the younger generations as well. They need to think about the younger audience and stop talking gibberish and speak in terms we will understand so we can make an informed decision.

I think young people are very intimidated with elections because they don’t know the process and what each office represents.

Just the other night, I was having a conversation with our sports writer. He asked me, “Who are you going to vote for?” And I asked him, “For what?” There are so many seats, how can a person keep track? State senate, US senate, governor, house of representative for both state and US. It’s hard to distinguish between any of them. I must have been sleeping in civics class.